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My husband loves German Chocolate cake. It is what he requests almost every year for his birthday. I knew he would love German Chocolate Pie. German chocolate pie embraces the flavors of a German chocolate cake, but it a pudding-ish pie.
The problem is that most German Chocolate Pies are made with condensed milk or heavy cream, which is not good for someone, like my husband, with a milk protein allergy. It took me a few attempts, but I finally have created a dairy-free German Chocolate Pie that we love. I like it better than the traditional versions.
IF YOU ARE COOKING FOR SOMEONE WITH A SEVERE MILK ALLERGY, THIS MAY NOT BE THE RECIPE FOR YOU. While the ingredients you use may not contain milk as an ingredient, Baker’s German Chocolate is not considered really dairy-free because it is produced in a factory that also produced products on the equipment that do contain milk. Thus, there may be some residual milk products in the chocolate.
Baker’s German Chocolate is the brand and type of chocolate that makes this a German chocolate pie. It is named for the person who worked for Baker’s that developed the chocolate blend and not the country of Germany. It is available at many grocery stores in the baking supply aisle. It generally costs about 2 to 3 US dollars for 4 oz. This recipe uses 4 oz. If you can not find it in the stores, you can order it from Amazon. Here is a link for 12 bars:
The coconut milk called for in the recipe is not the coconut milk that you find in the dairy section. It is often in the international or Asian section of a grocery store in the United States. My preferred brand is this one:
German Chocolate Pie
Ingredients
- 4 oz. Baker's German Chocolate bar
- 1/4 c. margarine or butter
- 2 c. canned coconut milk
- 2 c. white sugar
- 3 Tbsp. corn starch
- 3 eggs - separated
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 2 tsp. vanilla
- shredded or flaked coconut
- chopped pecans
- unbaked flaky or graham cracker pie crusts
Instructions
- Melt chocolate and margarine or butter together in a double boiler or a bowl over a pan of boiling or near boiling hot water.
- Slowly stir in approximately 2/3 c. coconut milk to the melted chocolate mixture and set aside.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
- In a large bowl mix egg yolks, sugar, cornstarch, salt, and vanilla together.
- Gradually, whisk in the chocolate mixture and the remaining coconut milk.
- In another bowl, beat the egg whites until they just hold a peak...not too stiff.
- First, mix in 1/3 of the beaten egg whites, then gently fold in the rest.
- Fill pie crusts and sprinkle with the desired amount of coconut and pecans.
- Bake until rich, golden brown and the center only has a very slight movement. For full size pies, approximately 40 to 45 minutes. For mini-pies, approximately 15 to 20 minutes. NOTE: The baking time varies A LOT depending on what type and size of pie crust you use.
Notes
I have never made this recipe using deep dish pie crusts. They should work, but the baking time might be longer. If using commercially prepared graham cracker pie crusts, I had a yield of 2 larger pies and 8 small, individual pies. Thinner, homemade graham cracker crust tend to have a lower yield (less pies).
